When young people like us decide they want to become farmers, one of the biggest challenges is finding land. There are just sooooo many elements to making this decision, especially for organic farmers. We shared a little bit about what this process in this newsletter from a few months ago.
After the farmer makes the commitment, which in our case meant purchasing a 56 acre plot with a hefty mortgage, comes the even larger challenge of figuring out if the land is actually the “right” land. You can’t really figure this out entirely until you’re actually farming it, which means these first few years can come with a lot of uncertainty.
A few weeks back, I had a big “grass is always greener” moment where my heart literally ached to be closer to more rural family farms. I was visiting an organic farm in the southern tier to pick up some piglets (we had a gap in our breeding program when our boar passed away and needed to buy in some piglets from another farm) and we were amazed to see this collaborative network of small livestock farms so well established.
The farmers shared supplies, tools, and equipment, and grew complimentary crops. It all seemed so perfectly convenient to me. It hit me that being the only organic livestock farm in the county (that we know of), this type of rural infrastructure just isn’t possible for us yet.
For a few moments, it all weighed heavy on my mind. But then I remembered why this spot is actually perfect for us. It’s because our farm is so close to YOU and everything and everyone else that we love! Being in Henrietta, a 20 minute drive from basically anywhere in Rochester, means that we’re a part of the community that we’re feeding and this feels so gratifying to us both. We’re also close to all of our friends who we cherish, the restaurants we love, the summer Jazz Fest and all the other great things going on in Rochester.
While there are some things that we miss out on here in suburbia, we’re reminded every time we see you at the Brighton Market why our farm is perfect for us in every way.
Your Farmers,
Greg & Jenney